THE WINNER OF THE JOURNAL IS JUDY. THE TWO WINNERS FOR THE TAGS ARE MARY AND VICTORIA. THANK YOU EVERYONE! KEEP WATCHING MY FACEBOOK PAGES FOR FUTURE GIVEAWAYS. https://www.facebook.com/dorothyjanetoo

I have always been fascinated by Medieval history. I began reading historic novels and non-fiction about the period when I was in 6th grade. My first fascination was Anne Boleyn and one of my favorite books was “Katherine” by Anya Seton. There have been several Medieval Renaissance themed television series made in recent years, The Tudors, The Borgia’s, Game of Thrones, and coming soon, The White Queen. Often times, the history is skewed, but they are fun to watch nonetheless.

Update! The winner of the journal is Lyzz. The two runners up are Jakki and Mindi. Thanks everyone! The prizes will be sent in about one week.

Please leave a comment to be entered in the drawing!

Long ago, when I was in college, I took a modern dance class. The teacher was lovely. She had long legs and arms and rich, chestnut hair with a distinctive wave which fell perfectly over her left eye. The first day of class, she arrived dressed in leotards and a pale pink KD unitard – she looked gorgeous in that thrown together, effortless kind of way. Being from the UK, her speaking voice was equally beautiful. This was so long ago. How long? Well, back in those most ancient of days, dance studios were equipped with a portable phonograph, a turntable in a brown, slightly battered box with a speaker on the side – kind of like this: http://www.nostalgiafactoryoutlet.com/nostalgia/products/CR49-TA.asp

Back to the teacher. She welcomed the class and swiftly announced we were going to learn some stretching exercises and to watch her and then follow along, at which point she turned to the phonograph, picked up the needle arm and placed it on a record. After the distinctive scritchy scratch of a much played LP, the most gorgeous, sultry, tone poem emerged from the dog-eared phonograph. This was my introduction to Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie No. 1. I was … transfixed. I was more interested in the music than I was in doing the stretches. After class, I ran out and searched for a similar recording (hers was quite old) which I did not find (pre-internet, I was relegated to the record stores in the town I lived in.)

I never became a dancer of any sort. All I can remember from the class is watching the lovely teacher perform flat backs and swoops and swerves to Gymnopedie 1, 2 and 3. Eventually, I found a record and I played it until it began to skip. One of the first things I did when I discovered iTunes was to download the music. It speaks to me of the Paris I have read about in books and biographies describing the late 19th and early 20th century. In fact, this music is rather at the forefront of that period in Paris. You can read about Erik Satie here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Satie. I hope you will. His sad love story alone is atmospheric.

When I designed my Paris Journal, the Gymnopedie 1,2,and 3 played over and over in my head. I hope you enjoy the little video I made showing the prizes in this giveaway. It only lasts 1:35 so it will be a pleasant interlude.

NOW! Onto the rules.

Well, the only rule is to comment so I know where to send the journal:

Also – I would love it if you decide to click over to the journal on Etsy and give it a like, if you are able. This helps the journal rise in the mystical Etsy rankings. Here is a link for that:

But, most of all – don’t forget to comment in order to be officially entered in the drawing. I would love to know if you enjoyed hearing Gymnopedie #1 and also – if you have ever been to Paris. I have not, although, I hope to get there someday. I hope you will enjoy this giveaway and that you will find you have been pleasantly surprised along the way. The drawing for the journal and the two runner-up prizes (two different sets of tags) will take place on Sunday, April 28th at 7:00 PM. Be sure to check back – I will email the winners!

I want to thank everyone for commenting and participating. There were over 100 entries and I had so much fun reading all of the comments. I am not sure of internet winner etiquette so I am only going to announce first names. The winners will have been notified by email, so you will know who you are.

The shopping bag full of names

The winner of the journal is Paige! The two runners-up are Stephanie and Amy (there were multiple Amy’s if you did not receive an email from me, please come back and play again!)

Again – thank you everyone! Be sure to check my Facebook page for future giveaways.
All the best,

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The drawing for the giveaway will be held at 8:00 PM (EST) and I can hardly wait! So far, there are 93 contestants and the crystal bowl is so full, I am going to have to use a grocery bag. Because of the enthusiasm and WONDERFUL, THOUGHTFUL comments made, I have decided to make two runners-up who will each win a set of my Jane Austen Tags. You can still enter by going to this post and leaving a comment. https://lacegrl130.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/win-a-jane-austen-journal/

Many thanks to everyone for playing along! I hope you will check back for future giveaways or “like” my Facebook page to keep up on all the “paraphernalia” I post over there. https://www.facebook.com/dorothyjanetoo

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I was having fun on Facebook doing some little giveaways. But, as with all things in life, things get complicated. In order to comply with Facebook’s legal rules, I am now going to hold my giveaways here on my blog. I need to pep the blog up anyway and get back to blogging in general. So, to start off with a BIG bang, I am going to giveaway one of my ORIGINAL Jane Austen Journals.

So, here are the rules. I am going to try and make this easy and fun. In the comment field, please tell me your FAVORITE Jane Austen novel. When the drawing occurs on Sunday, April 7th, 2013, I will communicate with the winner and send the journal. I would also love it if you could go to the Etsy page for my journal and favorite it – https://www.etsy.com/listing/76293665/jane-austen-journal-pride-and-prejudice. You can also find my Dorothy Jane Facebook pages here: https://www.facebook.com/dorothyjanetoo. I would love to have you follow my page. I try to post interesting articles and also I share some of the collages I make. My whole Etsy adventure is really about more than simply selling my wares. I just love to make pretty things. And I love to share them. Thanks to all my loyal Facebook Fans – I hope you will all come over here to enter the giveaway!

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Paraphernalia 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author (that would be me) is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Dody Williams at Paraphernalia with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Thanks - I love to share and would love to be linked - I just want to be sure everyone knows I thunk it up!